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Tuesday, 30 April 2013

A short while ago I was contacted by a representative for Barneby's who asked if I would like to review their new site. You know me and my bargain hunting, so I jumped at the chance. Working in a similar way to other auction websites, but with a lot more finesse, Barneby's pulls all auctions world wide to one place. From Christies, Bonham, Fellows and beyond. Just a couple of clicks and you can search across some of the major auction houses, save your searches and view all the details of the items that have taken your fancy. You can even set up search's for specific alerts. All you have to do is register. This I like very much. Very, very much.

What I like even more is the easy sub-titles you can search under. Of course I headed straight to the "Fashion and Vintage" section, natch. Closely followed by Jewellery. My, my, there are some glittery things on there. Indeed there are. I have made mention of my eBay frenzy before and just looking around the site, I could feel it bubbling up. I flitted around the site like a woman slightly possessed, clicking away at all the pretties. The listings mostly consisted of one off garments or pieces as opposed to job lots, the information precise and the pictures clear.

At first, I did find the guide prices were a little off putting. However, they are just guide and you never can tell what is going to happen when the bidding opens. That is all of the thrill for me. The chances of getting something amazing for a snip of the price or being pipped at the post by someone who wanted it a little bit more and could splash more cash. There are a couple of items below that I shall be tuning in to see how the bidding pans out.

Who knows, I may just be the winner.

Disclaimer: this was a sponsored post & all images were used with permission

Saturday, 27 April 2013

I love to have curly, set hair every day. But. There are those evenings that I just cannot be arsed with the spraying-curly-pinning-ness of it all. Although it is only 15 mins out of my day, there are an increasing number of occasions that I just don't have it in me.

Invariably, this means that I have slight laziness regret by the time I have woken from my slumber. It is also usually coupled with me running late. It is at this point that I usually reach for the headscarf - that Mighty Coverer of All Evils.

That said, I have rustled up an easy-peasy back roll that takes moments to do. I know there are a lot of tutorials out there and many of them use a hair rat or a scarf with the hair wrapped round from the bottom and spread out.

My hair does not like this approach. Nor does my patience level.

So, I devised something else.

As you can see, I section off a front bit and clip it to my bonce. Then I take the hair from just in front of my ears, twist them back, poof them forward a bit and pin them in place. The work of about 30 seconds.

I then brush all the hair at the back so that it is smooth. And pin the hair rat in place. The one shown here is a rather large version as I have been practicing Edwardian do's of late. I usually use a slimmer version, but I use it just the same.

Once pinned to my head, I roughly section off into 3 bits. I loop the 2 side sections round the hair rat first and stuff the ends into the middle-ish. The final middle section is then looped and stuffed in the same fashion. This takes about 1 minute. Tops.

I neaten it up a bit with what ever pins I have to hand - the big ones shown here did not work very well for me, so I tend to just use Bobby pins. I spray and smooth.

After that, I release the hair that has been pinned to my bonce and make a quick roll. Or 2, depending on how much effort I want to put in. I usually always use my Sculpture Curler for this, or perhaps a big pinned kiss curl. Usually the former, as I am not very good at the latter.

A quick blast of hair spray, and I am done. I add a hair flower (or 5) and I am off out the door!

It's a great style for the office (it is my go to interview hair do, minus the role. I normally do a middle parting), the summer, to wear under a hat or just round the shops.

If, like me, you cannot get along with rolling your hair round a hair rat, rolling it up and spreading it out, then this method could well be your saviour!

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

I really do not feel that I could let this recent event pass without saying something.

I am inherently interested in women's history and history was made by this woman.

This post is not about policies, picket lines or poll tax.

It is in remembrance of a woman who, in the centenary year of a Suffragette dying under the hooves of a hurtling horse ensuring women's suffrage in the UK was noticed, has passed away. A woman who not only celebrated the vote but won enough of them to become Prime Minister three times over.

I wonder what the Pankhurst's would have made of the situation in 1979 as a woman entered No 10 Downing Street as not only the leader of a party, but of a nation. A woman who has, today, been given a ceremonial funeral.

I hope they would have celebrated as I do. They may not have agreed with her policies or tactics. They may have backed her to the hilt. Either way, like me, I believe they would have been proud of the determined journey she took to get there.

Friday, 12 April 2013

One of the perks of blogging, aside from meeting lots of very nice, friendly, funny, warm people virtually and in real life, is being asked to review the odd bits and pieces. It is not often that I accept a request as I only review things I would actually use or buy myself. So, when DotComGiftShop contacted me and advised me that they had featured me on their vintage bloggers list and wondered whether I would like to review an item from their extensive site, I said yes, lickety-split.

I had a wander around the site and after about 5 seconds tweeted about their Mason Cash Bowl-esque measuring cups. There was a debate as to their prettiness, but concerns over their possible fragility. I thought it best to request them for review. I would put them to the test of my general cackhandiness. They were soon winging their way to me. They arrived in a fairly mahoosive box and were very well packaged. They had been shipped in their original container packaging - so if you are ordering them for a gift, you may want to put them in a slightly more presentable box. And, as with all food-touching implements, give them a quick rinse.

But, my oh my, they were just as pretty as the website had shown. Designed in pastel hues on the outside with dainty, but sturdy handles, I knew I would be using them. A lot. Regular spoons and other measuring cups are all very well and good, but I quite like the fanciness and practicality of these. The inside of the cups are nicely glazed with delicate images of stamps, butterflies and the measurement of each cup. If that were not enough, they also stack. And look right nice doing so.

DotcomGiftShop ship to the UK and Europe and I can recommend their service. I have my eye on some of their little milk bottles and wedding bunting for my up coming nuptials (by upcoming I mean over a year away) but I am seriously considering getting some and ferreting them away somewhere. There is a veritable feast of interesting, cute, practical and kitsch bits on there for you to pick from.